DENVER — Someone who wants to drive to the top of the newly renamed Mount Blue Sky must first get off at the Mount Evans exit, drive on the Mount Evans Scenic Byway, pass the Mount Evans Trout Fishing Pond and go through the Mount Evans State Wildlife Area.
Those official names are still in place. Only the name of the mountain has recently changed away from Mount Evans, which honored John Evans, the former Governor of Colorado involved in the Sand Creek Massacre.
"There are multiple places where we have work to do, but all of that are opportunities to teach ourselves and help other people begin to learn too," said Randy Wheelock, a Clear Creek County commissioner who worked to change the name of the mountain.
Yet change takes time.
While the Board on Geographic Names approved the change last month, you wouldn’t know that today.
"There are all kinds of elements that will change over time as we figure out how to change them," said Wheelock.
The names of the physical locations around the mountain have not changed, and neither have the signs.
"We will be changing those out. Right now, you will still see Mt Evans. But those will be changed out to Mount Blue Sky," said Tamara Rollison, a spokesperson with the Colorado Dept. of Transportation (CDOT).
Rollison says it will take at least another three months to fabricate and install the 17 signs they’re responsible for in the area that say "Mount Evans."
But CDOT isn’t alone. Clear Creek County is responsible for some signs that will take months to change. The Forest Service has other signs that could take until 2025 to install. The City of Denver even has signs at their mountain parks on the peak they have to change.
"The fabrication process takes up to 45 to 60 days to make the signs in our sign shop and then it takes us another three to four weeks to install them. That is weather dependent," said Rollison.
All those entities, including Clear Creek County, the City of Denver, the Forest Service and CDOT, are working together to install signs that tell the history of Mount Blue Sky and educate people on why it was changed away from Mount Evans.
"The easy stuff is going to be changing the road signs that change right now," said Wheelock.
The hard part has nothing to do with physical signs. It’s educating everyone who drives by about why Mount Blue Sky has a new name.
"Name change is hallow without reeducating people, without using it to access an entire population and tell the real history," said Wheelock.
The U.S. Forest Service provided this statement on the transition:
We immediately began the process of updating all the wording on our website and will be updating the name in the rec.gov reservation system as soon as the season concludes at the end of the week. We will be working to update the forest’s maps this winter. We are in process of inventorying all the sign needs on the mountain and building a budget with our national office to replace them. The implementation of the sign changes may be phased along with reconstruction of the road in 2025 and collaboration with partners and the county. Our hope is to have most of the wayfinding signs on the mountain replaced by the start of next season. We are working with the Mount Blue Sky Collaborative (which includes our management partners: Denver Mountain Parks, CDOT, Clear Creek County, CPW and a handful of nonprofit partners) on a bigger interpretive sign and information plan to be completed when the road reopens post-construction in 2026.
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